Rhubarb Nut Bread

By Lovina Eicher

May 14, 2014

It is a beautiful May morning with the sun shining and the temperature already in the 60s, a perfect day for gardening!

We had a nice but cool day on Sunday to host church services. It was council meeting so church left out around 2:30 p.m. Services began at 9 a.m. Around 11:15 a.m. we had everything ready to begin serving lunch. We had table settings for 34 people at a time. After one table emptied, dishes were washed and set again for the next group. It took over two hours to serve everyone. Our church district has well over 100 children under age 16, so it takes time for everyone to eat. Our menu for lunch was chicken noodle soup, homemade wheat and white bread, bologna, cheese spread, peanut butter spread, dill pickles, sweet pickles, red beets, hot peppers, blackberry jam, butter, 4 different kinds of cookies, coffee, and tea.

We prepared 5 1 /2 kettles (12 quarts each) of chicken noodle soup and had very little leftover. Fifty loaves of bread and cookies were all brought in by the church women. We exchange with one another so it doesn’t make it so hard when your turn comes.

We invited some of the church families back for a 6 p.m. supper and also the youth in the community. We had around 130 people here for supper. On the menu for supper was meat and potato casserole (4 big roasters full), ham and beans, green beans, tossed salad, and dressing, bread, peanut butter spread, pickles, hot peppers, a variety of cakes and bas and ice cream.

After everyone is done eating, the tables are cleaned and the youth boys and girls (16 and over) all sit down to sing songs. The men also sit and help sing while the women help wash the dishes. They help sing as they wash dishes so it makes it go faster it seems. Our church has its own set of dishes such as glasses, coffee cups, and silverware. The women put all the dishes right back in the totes and boxes so they are ready to be carried out to the bench wagon for the next services. It is always so relaxing to hear the singing after a long day. We have three daughters with the youth group already. Time seems to go faster each year. We were all tired and ready for bed after everyone had left by 9 p.m.

It makes it well worth your effort though when all the youth are respectful and I appreciated everyone expressing their thanks for having them here. May God guide each and everyone one of them through their young years and be their guide through their whole life.

Monday daughter Verena and I cleaned up from the day before. Late afternoon Jacob, Emma, and sons came to help get the benches and dishes back to the bench wagon.

Tuesday we did a huge laundry so that concluded the work from hosting church services for another year!

Try this bread with your rhubarbs

RHUBARB NUT BREAD

1 1 /2 cups brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1 /2 cup diced rhubarb

2 /3 cup vegetable oil

1 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 1 /2 cups all-purpose flour

1 /2 cup chopped nuts

Mix together in the order given. Pour into well greased loaf pans. Sprinkle 1/2 cup sugar over top and 2 or 3 tablespoons melted butter over top of sugar. Bake at 325 for 40 to 50 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Amish cook Lovina Eicher is Old Order Amish. She hand-writes her weekly column by lantern light from her Michigan home. Readers with culinary or cultural questions can write to: The Amish Cook, P.O. Box 2144, Middletown, OH 45042. Viewpoints expressed in these opinion pieces are the work of the author. The Daily Advocate does not endorse these viewpoints or the independent activities of the author.